We regularly show exhibitions on special subjects, for example on Oscar Troplowitz, the man who invented Nivea, or on the photographic work of Linda McCartney who portrayed rock stars of the 60s. Or on the works of Jewish artists.
A story of extermination and survival – the Holocaust in the Galician oil-belt
Galicia is a cultural landscape in the east of Central Europe which today is divided between Poland and Ukraine. From the Middle Ages Jews constituted an important part of this multi-ethnic society. The towns of Drohobycz and Boryslaw were the centre of the Galician oil-rich area and thus of great military importance for the German occupiers in World War II. The Jewish population were herded together in ghettos, taken to do forced labour and finally exterminated.
The exhibition documents the Holocaust in the Galician oil-belt. It tells the story of the loss of rights, oppression, forced labour, hunger, ghettoisation, mass shootings, of transports without return to the Belzec extermination camp
The exhibition shows the stories of the victims, the perpetrators, accomplices, survivors and their rescuers. It follows the fate of the family of the Holocaust survivor Prof. Dr. Józef Lipman. It pays tribute to the deeds and courage of rescuers, in particular the young German manager Berthold Beitz and his wife Else.
The exhibition
The exhibition on the Holocaust in the Galician oil-belt was initiated by a group from the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (Action Reconciliation Service for Peace) which developed from work done at Jewish cemeteries in Poland and Ukraine. The ASF group contacted DBO (Drohobycz Borysław and Vicinity Organisation) and the Polish foundation FBK (Fundacja Bente Kahan).
The exhibition banners are in two languages: the respective national language and English. So far it has been shown in Wroclaw (Breslau), Waldenburg, Reichenbach and Belzec extermination camp in Poland as well as in Boryslaw in Ukraine. More exhibitions will follow in Israel and Ukraine.
In summer 2015 the group’s work and the participation of local authorities and churches led to the placement of a memorial plaque in Borylsaw commemorating Berthold and Else Beitz.
The exhibition is being shown at the Jewish Museum of Westphalia until 23 April 2017. This presentation is made possible through the kind support of the Sparkasse Vest Recklinghausen.
An exhibition of the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedendsdienst (ASF). Bonn region, Drohobycz Boryslaw and Vicinity Organization (DBO) and Israel Fundacja Bente Kahan (FBK), Poland.
Copyright for picture: WL1614, Wiener Library, at Drohobycz station.
Archiv: 25 Years Special Exhibitions
